Making My Case
I recently discovered "fantasy casting" on the Glee wiki, and, whilst trying to add page edits to my credit, I accidentally stumbled on the perfect Glee guest star. Seriously, he's, like, ideal: Jesse L. Martin. For those of you who don't know, he was Tom Collins in the OBC and 2005 movie versions of RENT, he was on Law & Order for nine seasons, he's doing a movie on Marvin Gaye--dude's awesome. Seriously.
And he would be beyond perfect. First of all, he's got a dreamy voice. His voice is deeper than any guy on the show so far, and anyone whose ever heard the reprise of "I'll Cover You" from RENT (if you haven't, YouTube it) knows that he can control that voice perfectly. I get chills listening. Unfortunately, RENT is the only musical he's been in to date, so I really only have five songs with his voice on my iPod, which is totally not enough.
He's also an unbelievable actor. You can tell when an actor gets really into a role, and Jesse has the most expressive eyes I've ever seen. He completely absorbs the characters. In RENT, his voice is kind of goofy and buddy-buddy, very stoner-friendly guy. In L&O, his voice was lazy and threatening, like a bad-ass cop. He's in character in every scene without stealing the scene, and he's got about thirteen different smiles, all of which make me want to hug him.
But of course, this is Glee, and I would never want him to be on the show if he couldn't dance circles around the rest of the cast. I've never seen a guy pirouette as awesomely as Jesse does, though, so we're cool. Again, for those of you who haven't seen RENT, YouTube Santa Fe. It's his other big fun solo, he spins, he does a backflip, he's practically twirling around a stripper pole... except on the subway.
Also, because I'm the queen of dorks, I have planned out how he would fit into the show... in detail.
The quirky substitute. JLM's only real defect is that he's 41, so he can't be cast as a student. Bummer. So, he becomes the new long-term substitute teacher for I dunno, English or something. And, because he's great at playing enthusiastic and adorable characters, he can offer to help Mr. Schue with Glee. Let's face it, that's a hell of a lot of work. Will is flattered by Jesse's eagerness, and says sure, give it a try. The only thing is, he didn't realize that Jesse is incredibly talented, and soon all the kids are totally in love with him and pretty much ignoring Will.
Will gets kind of paranoid and jealous and thinks that he's a spy for Sue, and eventually confronts him and is all "What the hell, man? You're stealing my students!" Jesse is seriously affronted by the accusation, and storms off. Later, he learns about all the whack things Sue's done. Also, Will asks Emma to check out Jesse's record--he really is a devoted teacher who wants to help kids. They apologize. Jesse makes the adorable face and uses the adorable voice he used in the L&O scene where he found out his partner was leaving the force, and says "Man, I'm sorry, I had no idea." They part as friends... accompanied by a huge magical musical number.
HOW AWESOME WOULD THAT BE?!!/?!1!
Fox, are you listening?
And he would be beyond perfect. First of all, he's got a dreamy voice. His voice is deeper than any guy on the show so far, and anyone whose ever heard the reprise of "I'll Cover You" from RENT (if you haven't, YouTube it) knows that he can control that voice perfectly. I get chills listening. Unfortunately, RENT is the only musical he's been in to date, so I really only have five songs with his voice on my iPod, which is totally not enough.
He's also an unbelievable actor. You can tell when an actor gets really into a role, and Jesse has the most expressive eyes I've ever seen. He completely absorbs the characters. In RENT, his voice is kind of goofy and buddy-buddy, very stoner-friendly guy. In L&O, his voice was lazy and threatening, like a bad-ass cop. He's in character in every scene without stealing the scene, and he's got about thirteen different smiles, all of which make me want to hug him.
But of course, this is Glee, and I would never want him to be on the show if he couldn't dance circles around the rest of the cast. I've never seen a guy pirouette as awesomely as Jesse does, though, so we're cool. Again, for those of you who haven't seen RENT, YouTube Santa Fe. It's his other big fun solo, he spins, he does a backflip, he's practically twirling around a stripper pole... except on the subway.
Also, because I'm the queen of dorks, I have planned out how he would fit into the show... in detail.
The quirky substitute. JLM's only real defect is that he's 41, so he can't be cast as a student. Bummer. So, he becomes the new long-term substitute teacher for I dunno, English or something. And, because he's great at playing enthusiastic and adorable characters, he can offer to help Mr. Schue with Glee. Let's face it, that's a hell of a lot of work. Will is flattered by Jesse's eagerness, and says sure, give it a try. The only thing is, he didn't realize that Jesse is incredibly talented, and soon all the kids are totally in love with him and pretty much ignoring Will.
Will gets kind of paranoid and jealous and thinks that he's a spy for Sue, and eventually confronts him and is all "What the hell, man? You're stealing my students!" Jesse is seriously affronted by the accusation, and storms off. Later, he learns about all the whack things Sue's done. Also, Will asks Emma to check out Jesse's record--he really is a devoted teacher who wants to help kids. They apologize. Jesse makes the adorable face and uses the adorable voice he used in the L&O scene where he found out his partner was leaving the force, and says "Man, I'm sorry, I had no idea." They part as friends... accompanied by a huge magical musical number.
HOW AWESOME WOULD THAT BE?!!/?!1!
Fox, are you listening?